10 May 2010

Anglicans bent on smaller Australia

Australian Anglicans have made a doctrinal pronouncement to the effect that having children is tantamount to breaking the eighth commandment (or the seventh, if you are Catholic or Lutheran): Anglicans argue for fewer kids. According to this report in The Sydney Morning Herald,

The Anglican Church wants Australians to have fewer children and has urged the federal government to scrap the baby bonus and cut immigration levels. The General Synod of the Anglican Church has issued a warning that current rates of population growth are unsustainable and potentially out of step with church doctrine – including the eighth commandment “thou shall not steal”, Fairfax newspapers say. In a significant intervention, the Anglican Public Affairs Commission has also warned concerned Christians that remaining silent “is little different from supporting further overpopulation and ecological degradation”.

Although the strongly evangelical and reformed Sydney Diocese links to this story from its website, it gives no hint as to whether or not it agrees.